UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA 

COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL    EXPERIMENT   STATION 

BERKELEY,    CALIFORNIA 


BEEF  CATTLE  FEEDING  TRIALS 
1921-24 


C.  E.  HOWELL 


BULLETIN  421 

March,  1927 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRINTING   OFFICE 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 

1927 


BEEF  CATTLE  FEEDING  TRIALS,  1921-24 

C.  E.  HOWELL* 


INTRODUCTION 

The  depletion  of  the  ranges  in  California  is  becoming  more 
apparent  each  year.  The  people  of  the  state  are  realizing  the  value 
of  meat  of  good  quality  and  are  demanding  a  better  product.  The 
scarcity  of  cheap  range  feed  and  the  low  market  price  of  unfinished 
cattle,  combined  with  the  conditions  named  above,  make  it  desirable 
for  California  cattlemen  to  put  their  cattle  in  better  market  condition. 
In  the  fall  of  1921,  the  California  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 
undertook  to  help  solve  some  of  the  feeding  problems  of  the  California 
cattlemen. 

PURPOSE   AND    PLAN    OF   THE    FEEDING   TRIALS 

The  purpose  of  the  feeding  trials  reported  here  has  been  to  secure 
information  on  the  following  points : 

1.  What  are  the  comparative  results  in  feeding  calves,  yearlings, 
and  two-year-old  cattle? 

2.  What  are  some  desirable  rations  for  fattening  cattle  in  Cali- 
fornia ? 

3.  Are  there  any  advantages  in  feeding  steers  in  preference  to 
heifers  ? 

STEER    FEEDING    EXPERIMENTS    DURING    THE    WINTER    OF 

1921-1922 

The  cattle  used  in  this  experiment  were  sired  by  unregistered 
range  bulls  and  were  out  of  common  range  cows.  They  were  typical 
of  a  large  number  of  steers  produced  on  California  ranges.  They 
were  brought  to  the  University  Farm  at  Davis  in  the  fall  of  1921. 
The  steers  were  dehorned  and  kept  in  the  feed  lot  several  days  before 
the  feeding  trial  began.  They  were  all  fed  alfalfa  hay  so  that  they 
would  be  on  about  the  same  plane  of  nutrition.  This  preliminary 
feeding  period  also  permitted  the  animals  to  become  accustomed  to 
their  surroundings. 

The  two-year-olds  were  divided  as  uniformly  as  possible  into  lots 
I,  II,  III,  and  started  on  feed  December  1.  The  25  yearlings  were  all 
placed  in  one  lot  and  were  fairly  uniform  in  size.  These  were  started 
on  feed  December  15.    The  following  rations  were  fed: 


*  Assistant  Animal  Husbandman  in  Experiment  Station. 


4  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

Lot  I.  chopped  alfalfa  hay. 

Lot  II,  chopped  alfalfa  hay  and  sorghum  silage. 

Lot  III,  chopped  alfalfa  hay,  sorghum  silage,  and  rolled  barley. 

Lot  IV,  chopped  alfalfa  hay,  sorghum  silage,  rolled  barley,  and 
cottonseed  meal. 

In  each  of  the  lots,  the  cattle  were  fed  all  the  chopped  hay  they 
would  consume.  Lots  II,  III,  and  IV  were  gradually  accustomed  to 
silage  and  then  fed  all  they  would  eat.  In  lot  III,  one  pound  of  the 
rolled  barley  was  given  at  the  beginning  and  gradually  increased  to 
6  pounds  per  head  daily.  The  steers  in  lot  IV  were  given  all  the  hay, 
silage,  and  concentrates  they  would  eat.  The  cottonseed  meal  was  fed 
in  the  ratio  of  1  pound  to  7  pounds  of  barley. 

As  the  alfalfa  hay  was  of  very  poor  quality,  containing  a  high 
percentage  of  foxtail,  the  cattle  did  not  seem  to  relish  it.  The  barley 
was  steam  rolled  and  good  in  quality.  The  silage  was  sorghum 
silage  of  good  quality.     The  cottonseed  meal  graded  as  "choice." 

The  cattle  were  weighed  on  three  consecutive  days  at  the  beginning 
and  at  the  end  of  the  trial,  and  the  averages  of  the  three  weights  were 
used  for  the  initial  and  the  final  weights.  The  weights  were  taken  in 
the  morning  before  feeding  and  watering.  The  cattle  were  weighed 
individually,  each  animal  being  identified  by  means  of  a  metal  ear 
tag  number. 

TABLE  1 

Summary  of  Results  of  a  90-day  Feeding  Period  with  Yearlings  and 
Two-year-old  Steers 


Two-year-olds 

A 

Yearlings 

A 

r 

Lot    I 

Lot   II 

Lot  III 

r                   > 
Lot  IV 

(24  cattle) 

(23  cattle) 

A 

(24  cattle) 

(25  cattle) 

A 

pounds 

pounds 

pounds 

t                               A 

pounds 

Average    initial    weight 

821.17 

826.08 

828.35 

528.52 

Average  final  weight .... 

878.73 

919.14 

941.88 

797.24 

Average  total  gain 

57.56 

93.06 

113.52 

268.72 

Average   daily  gain 

.64 

1.03 

1.26 

2.99 

Daily  ration — 

Alfalfa   hay  

19.94 

13.03 

11.80 

6.74 

Sorghum   silage   

27.81 

26.08 

21.16 

Rolled  barley   

5.57 

6.46 

Cottonseed  meal   

.92 

Feed  for  100  pounds  gain 

Alfalfa  hay  

3,115.62 

1,265.04 

936.50 

225.41 

Sorghum  silage  

2,700.00 

2,069.84 

707.69 

Rolled  barley  

442.06 

216.05 

Cottonseed    meal 

30.76 

Bul.  421] 


BEEF    CATTLE    FEEDING    TRIALS,    1921~24 


Fig.  1. — Lot  T,  showing  type  and  condition  of  steers  after  being  fed  90  days 

on   alfalfa   hay. 


Fig.  2. — Lot  II,  showing  type  and  condition  of  steers  at  the  end  of  a  90-day 
feeding  period  on  alfalfa  hay  and  sorghum  silage. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


Fig.  3. — Lot  III,  showing  the  condition  of  steers  at  the  end  of  a  90-day  feeding 
period  on  alfalfa  hay,  sorghum  silage,  and  a  limited  amount  of  barley. 


Fig.  4. — Lot  IV,  showing  yearling  steers  after  a  90-day  feeding  period  on 
alfalfa  hay,  sorghum  silage,  barley,  and  cottonseed  meal. 


BUL.  421]  BEEF    CATTLE   FEEDING   TRIALS,    1921~24  7 

Table  1  gives  a  summary  of  results  obtained  in  the  90-day  feeding 
trial.  The  yearlings  in  lot  IV  made  the  largest  and  most  economical 
daily  gain.  For  100  pounds  of  gain  they  required  933.10  pounds  of 
roughage  and  246.81  pounds  of  concentrates,  compared  with  3006.34 
pounds  of  roughage  and  442.06  pounds  of  concentrates  in  lot  III. 

This  was  a  saving  of  69  per  cent  of  the  roughage  and  44  per  cent 
of  the  concentrates.  It  is  realized  that  these  two  lots  are  not  directly 
comparable  but  the  results  are  so  striking  that  they  are  of  considerable 
value  to  the  livestock  feeder.  The  daily  gain  of  2.99  pounds  in  lot  IV 
is  exceptionally  good.  All  of  the  animals  in  this  lot  (fig.  4)  were  well 
finished  and  the  majority  of  them  would  grade  as  "choice."  The 
older  steers  were  more  nervous  than  the  yearlings,  a  fact  which  may 
partly  account  for  their  relatively  small  gain.  Lot  III  made  slightly 
greater  gains  than  lot  II,  but  the  greater  gain  in  lot  III  was  not  in 
this  case  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  barley  which  they  consumed  in  addi- 
tion. A  few  steers  in  lots  II  and  III  were  lacking  in  finish  at  the 
end  of  the  feeding  trial.  Lot  I  made  the  smallest  daily  gain,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  90-day  feeding  trial  was  not  ready  for  market.  The 
steers  had  gained  an  average  of  57  pounds  in  weight,  but  were  showing 
no  improvement  in  finish.  The  appearance  of  the  steers  at  the  end  of 
the  experiment  is  shown  in  figure  1.  The  majority  of  the  cattle  in 
the  experiment  were  well  fleshed  and  in  a  higher  state  of  finish  than  is 
usually  found  with  California  cattle  on  the  market  (figs.  2  and  3). 


A  COMPARISON  OF  GAINS  MADE  BY  STEERS  AND   HEIFERS 

Twenty  yearling  steers  were  put  in  lot  I  and  14  yearling  heifers  in 
lot  II.  Both  lots  were  started  on  feed  July  29,  on  a  ration  of  alfalfa 
hay,  rolled  barley  and  cottonseed  meal.  In  order  to  get  as  accurate 
a  comparison  as  possible  of  the  steers  and  heifers,  both  lots  were  fed 
all  the  feed  they  would  eat  readily. 

In  this  trial  the  heifers  made  a  slightly  larger  daily  gain  than  the 
steers.  They  consumed  more  feed  daily  and  required  slightly  more 
to  produce  100  pounds  of  gain,  were  equally  as  well  finished,  and 
dressed  57.15  per  cent,  while  the  steers  dressed  57  per  cent.  It  is 
believed  that  the  difference  in  the  initial  weights  of  the  animals  in  the 
two  groups  is  not  significant. 


8 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 


TABLE  2 

Comparison  of  Gains  Made  by  Steers  and  Heifers  During  90-day  Feeding 

Period,  July  29  to  October  27,  1922 

Lot  I,  20  Steers,  Lot  II,  14  Heifers, 

pounds  pounds 

Average  initial  weight  681.68  552.97 

Average  final   weight    879.47  754.85 

Average  total   gain 197.79  201.88 

Average  daily  gain   2.19  2.24 

Daily  ration — 

Alfalfa  hay 16.99  18.81 

Boiled  barley  .'..- 8.54  9.21 

Cottonseed  meal 1.51  1.58 

Feed  for  100  pounds  gain — 

Alfalfa   hay 775.79  839.73 

Boiled  barley  - 389.95  411.16 

Cottonseed  meal   68.94  70.53 


Fig.  5. — Yearling  steers  at  the  end  of  the  90-day  feeding  trial  on  a  ration 
of  alfalfa  hay,  barley,  and  cottonseed  meal. 


Fig.  6. — Yearling  heifers  at  the  end  of  the  90-day  feeding  trial  on  a  ration 
of  alfalfa  hay,  barley,  and  cottonseed  meal. 


BUL.  421]  BEEF    CATTLE   FEEDING    TRIALS,    1921~24 


A  COMPARISON  OF  THE  RATE  AND  ECONOMY  OF  GAINS  MADE  BY 
YEARLINGS   AND   TWO-YEAR-OLDS 

This  trial  was  conducted  to  determine  the  advisability  of  feeding 
California  range  animals  at  one  year  of  age,  instead  of  keeping  them 
another  summer  on  the  range  and  finishing  them  as  two-year-olds. 
The  yearlings  and  two-year-olds  used  in  this  trial  were  brought  to 
the  University  Farm  from  the  range  and  held  for  a  brief  period  on 
alfalfa  hay  to  get  them  all  on  the  same  plane  of  nutrition  and 
accustomed  to  their  new  quarters.  Each  lot  was  handled  in  the  same 
manner. 

TABLE  3 

Summary  of  Results  of  Feeding  Yearlings  and  Two-year-old  Steers, 
November  23,  1922,  to  March  22,  1923  (120  Days) 

Yearlings  Two-year-olds 

(23  cattle)  (21  cattle) 

pounds  pounds 

Average  initial  weight  620.65  831.75 

Average  final   weight    880.07  1,056.11 

Average  total   gain 259.42  224.36 

Average  daily  gain 2.16  1.87 

Daily  ration — 

Rolled  barley  9.09  10.84 

Cottonseed  meal  1.17  1.38 

Sorghum  silage  25.14  28.45 

Alfalfa  hay  9.31  9.70 

Feed  for  100  pounds  of  gain — 

Rolled  barley  420.83  579.67 

Cottonseed  meal  54.16  73.79 

Sorghum  silage   1,163.88  1,521.39 

Alfalfa   hay   431.01  518.71 

Table  3  shows  a  considerable  advantage  in  favor  of  the  yearling 
cattle.  They  made  2.16  pounds  daily  gain  as  compared  with  1.87 
pounds  daily  gain  for  the  two-year-old  steers. 

For  100  pounds  of  gain,  the  yearlings  required  474.99  pounds  of 
concentrates  and  1594.88  pounds  of  roughage,  compared  with  653.46 
pounds  of  concentrates  and  2040.10  pounds  of  roughage  for  the  two- 
year-old  steers.  This  was  a  saving  of  27.31  per  cent  of  the  concentrates 
and  21.82  per  cent  of  the  roughage. 


10  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


A  COMPARISON  OF  THE  RATE  AND  ECONOMY  OF  GAINS  MADE  BY 
CALVES  AND  YEARLINGS 

The  yearlings  in  this  group  were  dropped  in  the  spring  of  1922 
and  spent  one  summer  on  a  mountain  range.  They  were  weaned  in 
the  fall  and  brought  to  the  University  Farm  to  be  wintered  on  pasture. 
The  calves  were  from  range  cows  which  were  brought  to  Davis  and 
calved  under  valley  conditions.  The  calves  were  dropped  during  the 
months  of  October,  November,  and  December.  They  ran  with  the 
cows  during  the  v  winter  and  were  weaned  on  May  25,  1923,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  feeding  trial.  Both  lots  were  pastured  on  alfalfa 
from  May  25  to  August  23,  1923.  Twenty-four  calves  were  pastured 
on  10.14  acres  of  alfalfa  and  thirty-six  yearlings  on  13.30  acres.  From 
August  23  to  December  8,  both  groups  were  fed  barley  in  addition  to 
the  pasture. 

TABLE  4 
Summary  of  Data  on  Calves  and  Yearlings  May  25  to  December  8,  1923 

24  Calves         36  Yearlings 
pounds  pounds 

Average  initial  weight  May  25,  starting  on  pasture 458.75  615.47 

Average  weight  Aug.  23,  starting  on  barley  plus  pasture  584.58  743.05 

Average  total  gain  on  pasture  125.83  127.58 

Average  daily  gain  on  pasture  1.39  1.41 

Average  weight  at  end  of  trial 793.75  959.30 

Average  total  gain  on  barley  and  pasture  209.17  216.25 

Average  daily  gain  on  barley  and  pasture  1.95  2.02 

Average  daily  barley  ration  8.37  8.46 

During  the  time  both  groups  were  on  alfalfa  pasture,  the  yearlings 
made  slightly  larger  gains  than  the  calves.  This  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  yearlings  were  able  to  make  better  use  of  the 
pasture  crop.  The  calves,  being  weaned  just  at  the  beginning  of  the 
trial,  did  not  settle  down  and  start  gaining  as  readily  as  the  yearlings. 
The  additional  gain  of  the  yearlings  over  the  calves  is  so  slight  as  to 
be  almost  negligible. 

When  fed  rolled  barley  in  addition  to  the  pasture,  the  yearlings 
consumed  an  average  of  8.46  pounds  of  barley  daily  and  made  2.02 
pounds  gain,  as  compared  with  8.37  pounds  of  barley  and  a  gain  of 
1.95  pounds  for  the  calves.  A  significant  point  of  comparison  is  the 
fact  that  the  calves  increased  their  initial  body  weight  73  per  cent, 
while  the  yearlings  increased  their  initial  weight  only  55  per  cent. 


BUL.  421]  BEEF    CATTLE   FEEDING    TRIALS,    1921~24  11 


FINANCIAL   RETURNS   OF  THE    FEEDING   TRIALS 

Because  of  the  general  depression  of  the  beef  cattle  industry 
during  the  period  covered  by  this  investigation,  it  is  deemed  advisable 
to  eliminate  from  this  report  the  financial  statement  of  the  operations. 
There  are  so  many  varying  factors  that  financial  statements  are  often 
misleading  and  unreliable.  The  feeder  should  note  particularly  the 
rate  of  gain  and  the  amount  of  feed  required  to  make  a  pound  of  gain 
in  estimating  the  probable  outcome  of  his  own  methods  under  his  own 
particular  conditions. 

All  items  of  cost  were  kept  and  form  a  part  of  the  original  data. 
In  the  feeding  trials  from  1921  to  1924,  a  profit  was  made  on  175  head, 
while  58  head  showed  a  loss. 


Fig.  7. — The  calves  (on  left)  and  the  yearlings  fed  barley  while  on  alfalfa 
pasture.  The  photograph  was  taken  a  few  days  before  the  close  of  the  experi- 
ment. 


SUMMARY 

1.  In  these  feeding  trials  calves  and  yearlings  were  about  equal  in 
their  rate  of  gain  and  in  their  ability  to  utilize  feed  in  making  100 
pounds  of  gain.  Both  the  calves  and  the  yearlings  show  a  distinct 
advantage  in  the  rate  and  economy  of  gains  over  the  two-year-old 
cattle. 

In  comparing  the  yearlings  on  a  ration  of  alfalfa  hay,  sorghum 
silage,  barley,  and  cottonseed  meal  with  the  two-year-olds  receiving 
alfalfa  hay,  as  much  sorghum  silage  as  they  would  eat,  and  a  limited 
barley  ration,  the  yearlings  made  57.85  per  cent  faster  gains  and 
produced  100  pounds  of  gain  on  68.96  per  cent  less  roughage  and 
44.17  per  cent  less  concentrates  than  the  two-year-old  cattle.  (See 
table  1.) 


12  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

The  yearling  cattle  made  13.42  per  cent  faster  gains  and  required 
27.31  per  cent  less  concentrates  and  21.82  per  cent  less  roughage  in 
producing  100  pounds  of  gain  than  did  two-year-old  cattle  on  the 
same  ration.     (See  table  3.) 

The  yearlings  made  1.41  per  cent  faster  gains  than  did  the  calves 
on  alfalfa  pasture.  "When  barley  was  added  to  the  ration,  the  year- 
lings made  3.46  per  cent  faster  gains  than  the  calves.  However,  the 
calves  required  2.42  per  cent  less  barley  to  produce  one  pound  of  gain 
than  the  yearlings.     (See  table  4.) 

2.  When  the  price  of  grain  is  comparatively  low,  concentrates 
should  be  utilized  in  fattening  beef  cattle  for  the  market.  Silage, 
alfalfa  hay,  and  cottonseed  meal  are  desirable  feeds  to  utilize  in 
selecting  an  economical  ration  for  fattening  cattle  in  California. 

3.  Yearling  heifers  made  as  rapid  gains  as  yearling  steers  and 
dressed  a  slightly  higher  percentage  of  carcass  than  the  steers. 


